ABDULLAH GUL UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CE 344 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION

LAB EXPERIMENT 3

Tests on Cement / Determination of Compressive Strength of Cement

Submitted to:

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Burak UZAL

Research Assistant. Abdulkadir ZALP

Mehmet Safa YILMAZ

Osman SAYGIN
Tubanur M
1.INTRODUCTION

Compressive strength is the maximum compressive stress, that under a progressively

applied load, any given material can sustain without fracture. Compressive strength is equal to
maximum load divided by the original cross-sectional area of a specimen in a compression test.
Compressive strength of cement is determined according to Turkish Standard TS EN 196-1. [1]
Also for finding the compressive strength of mortars ASTM Specification C 349 describes a
very similar to method to TS EN 196-1. [2] The only difference in this method is the preparation
of the mortar, where the mortar consists of 1 part Portland cement, 2.75 part of standard sand
and a water-cement ratio of 0.485(by weight) for all Portland cement.
The compressive strength test is conducted on the broken halves of the mortar cubes.
Since three specimens are broken in flexure, six specimens of 70.6 mm x 70.6 mm x 70.6 cm.
(3) A piece of metal plate is placed on the top and another piece of metal plate is placed at the
bottom of specimen. After finding the breaking load in compressive (Pmax ) compressive
strength in terms of kgf/cm2 is calculated. The average of the results found by testing six
specimens (for each group) is the compressive strength of the mortar bars. [3]

2. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS
Materials used for test as follows;
- Water
- Cement
- Standard sand

Figure 1 Cement and Sand Figure 2 Water

3. EXPERIMENTAL APPRATUS
Apparatus used for test as follows;
- Labaratory mixer
- Poking rod
- Mould
- Balance
- Trowel
- Glass cylinders

Figure 3 Labaratory mixer Figure 4 Mould

Figure 5 Glass cylinder Figure 6 Trowel

4-EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

1- The dry paddle and the dry bowl in the mixing position in the mixer were put.

2- 242 mL water was poured into the bowl

3- 500 gr cement was added into the water. Subsequently, the mixer was run and mixed at slow
speed during 30 seconds

4- 1375 gr sand is added slowly during 30 seconds, while mixing at slow speed.

Figure 7 Putting of sand into mixer

5- The mixer is stopped and mixed at medium speed for 30s.

6- The mixer is stopped and the mortar is waited during 90 seconds. At the first 15 seconds of
this interval, mortars accumulated on the side of the bowl are scraped with trowel. Following
that, at the rest of this interval, the mixer is closed enclosure

7-Complete by mixing for 60s at medium speed.

Figure 8 Mixing of mortar

8- The mortar is tamped in each cube partition 32 times in about 10 seconds in 4 rounds.
However, each round must be perpendicular to the other rounds

9- After the tamping of the first layer, the compartments are filled with the remaining mortar
and then they are tamped as specified for the first layer.

10- The mortar, which has been forced out onto the tops of the molds with a trowel, is brought
in and smoothed off the cubes by drawing the flat side of the trowel

Figure 9 Tamping of mortar Figure 10 Forcing out of mortar by trowel

11- Molds are placed in the curing pool and removed after 24 hours.

12- Specimens are taken out from curing pool after 3 days.

13-Specimens are placed to press device so as to measure compressive strength.

14- Maximum force is read from the press indicator at the moment that specimen is fractured.
At least 3 specimens must be fractured for more healthy results.
 Figure 11 Measuring of compressive strength of specimen

5- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

According to data from compressive strength test machine Instron 8801, the maximum
load (F) is 95 kN for the specimen. Since the 3 specimens were tested, the compressive strength
has 3 values and it is going to take the average of compressive strength values.

Specimen Number 1: Maximum Load: 96 kN, Compressive Strength: 38 MPa

Specimen Number 2: Maximum Load: 96 kN, Compressive Strength: 38 MPa
Specimen Number 3: Maximum Load: 85 kN, Compressive Strength: 34 MPa

The average of compressive strength values equals to 36,7 MPa

The results show that both specimen 1 and 2 compressive strength values are so close to each
other but specimen 3 compressive strength values is different than others. It may have occurred,
because of the tamping or curing process, but all specimens took curing process together. Most
probably, this difference comes from the tamping process that was done by group members.
The results showed that the compressive strength of cement is very important parameter
by the view of civil engineering. Cement is one of the main compounds of concrete and it
directly affects the strength of concrete. Moreover, compressive strength values are worth for
cement.
6- CONCLUSION

As a result of this experiment, the average of compressive strength values of cement

measured as 36,7 MPa for 4 days specimen. According to standard specification of cement,
our cement sample is determined high alumina cement type. This strength value is acceptable to
use in mix concrete. The different strength values showed the importance of tamping during
preparing sample. In addition, this cement type has many advantages. High alumina cement
type can be withstand high temperatures. Therefore, it can be used in foundries refractories,
and other workshops where high temperatures are included. Furthermore, It is highly
resistant to acids and hence it is commonly used in chemical industries. Also, it sets fast
and it reaches a strength of 40 N/mm2 in only one day and 50 N/mm2 in three days.
Finally, this cement type is more usable in construction site.

7- REFERENCES

1. ASTM C349 - 14. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from

https://www.astm.org/Standards/C349.htm
2. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF HYDRAULIC CEMENT(IS:4031-Part 6-1988).
(2015, June 04). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from
http://civilblog.org/2013/05/04/compressive-strength-of-hydraulic-cement-is-4031-part-
6-1988/#
3. High Alumina Cement. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2017, from
http://www.theconstructioncivil.org/high-alumina-cement/

4. TS EN 196 - 1 - tr.scribd.com. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from

https://tr.scribd.com/doc/30560655/TS-EN-196-1